NEW IDEAS IN NEW WARSHIPS.

Hokitika Guardian, 25 September 1925, Page 4

NEW IDEAS IN NEW WARSHIPS.

AX D MORE MONEY THEM

(Naval Expert in ‘‘Daily Mad.

LONDON. August 7

Warship designs since the Armistice show revolutionary changes. Ino nc" battleships, the Nelson and the Rodney, incidentially, the only battleships under construction in any part ol the world—are as different from the vessels that fought at Jutland as the Dreadnought was from earlier vessels. The old plan of having the armament distributed evenly between the iiow and stern of the ship, and sonictimes with turrets in the centre, has pone. The new practice is to abandon all attempt at stern lire and to mould'

the guns in triple turrets carrying three puns each, instead of the lorty-vcar-old British practice of two puns in a turret, and to carry the whole of the armament forward in to or threi torrents arranged at different levels so that all can lire ahead and on oitliei broadside.

Thus, the new British battleships wj|| carry nine lfi-in. puns in three triple turrets, all firing ahead. '1 he only guns aft will be light anti-torpedo boat artillery. The advantage's of this drastic rearrangement of the mam armament are principally from the ennstructnr'K point of view.' It is impossible by concentrating the magazines near each other to pet adequate protection for a less weight in steel armour and under-water bulges. There are also advantages from a gunnery point of view. The closer the different guns arc to each other the more accurately can fire lit' concentrated. D IS A D V A XT' A (IKS. The disadvantages, however, are two-fold. Many naiad officers consider it a maslike to carry all the maul armament in one part ol the ship as it is more liable to lie knocked out by

one big explosion. The other disadvantage is that in rough weather ships steaming at speed against a heavy sea are liable to have their forward guns temporarily put out of action hy mountains of green

water breaking over them. The Rodney and Nelson, steaming against an Atlantic gale at lull speed, will find it difficult to lire any of iheir three triple turrets; and this objection applies even more forcibly to the new cruisers. \ et: so enamoured are the constructors of the r< volutionary design that they have adopted the same principle for the new vessels laid down hy the Labour Government, and the four cruisers to he laid down by the present Government this year, the next year, and tfie* remainder ol the programme. These cruisers will he miniature Dreadnoughts in form as veil as name if tlivv carry their armament of Sin.

gulls of immense range and power ill the same way as the battleships, ill three triple turrets, firing over each other, so as to give an ahead concentration of !) Sill. guns. I’OWKRFUL JAI’AXkSK CRUISERS. The Japanese are believed to have gone one better, and to be working on the design of a light, cruiser to carry four triple torrents mounting Sin. guns that is. six forward and six aft. ■So great has been the advance ill the science of naval engineering that it is possible with a displacement of only R).C!)II lens . the Washington lim-it--to carry twelve Sin. gums and attain a speed of .To knots. Moreover, tlics,. vessels will he well protected against torpedo explosions under water by “bulges.'' During the War, bulges wen* sleel shells built as an aflei thought outside the hulls of the vessels, and these took the shook of the explosion of a striking torpedo. But in the new vessels the bulges are built inside the hull and do not alter the symmetry and the spiced of the under-water body. Compare this design to that of the “Hawkins'' class. Iwo vessels of which arc still building. On a displa: cnicnt of f>.7.'o tons they carry only seven 7.0 inch guns, with a speed ol .Till knots. These vessels are obsolescent before their ei mi.lotion, but each cost over two millions of money! AXTLSURMARTNF DEVICES.

(file reason why the construelion of submarines is not Icing proceeded with to any great extent by Hm British Admiralty is that against war vessels the

submarine has lost much of its potency. The real danger to surface war

'l vessels is from improved aeroplanes i carrying heavy bombs to explode under water near the hull and drive in the plates; also the lodges will not protect a ve-sol against more than three or four torpedoes, and for the cost of one el these new cruisers a great many aeroplanes to carry torpedoes tan lie hmll. Another reason why the submarine has lost its potency is that it is now possible to throw out a sound wave through the water which returns an echo, the direction of which can he measured. Thus two vessels fitted with acoustical gear ran each get a sountlbearing of a submerged submarine, j They can then turn in her direction j and steam at full speed until they meet when they drop their depth I charge all round the area, and the | destruction of the under-water vessel is J nearly certain. '1 he submarine's real i power will lie exercised against mer- ! chant ships. j Ihe“ IT ’ type of rru Err of Hi Kilt i on-. :is only a smaller type ot "Itread. nought" cruiser. Tlm-e new cruisers I will outclass anything else built -im-i. i the war in the same way as the mi . g.inal Dreadnought battleship oiitelass!ed all her elder sisters. So if the laxpayers of the rial ion- concerned do not J assert ('lieinselvcs a new competition is an immensely expensive type of war vessel has commenced. Ami the more of these vessels that are built the more obsolete become the existing fleets.